The overall nutritional content of raw cut steak is higher than that of conditioning steak

Steak cut or prepared? What is the difference between raw cut steak and prepared steak? Recently, the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission released the results of the comparative test of
steak products.
The results showed that the overall nutrition of the original cut steak was higher than that of the conditioning steak, and the sodium content of the conditioning steak was higher
.

Raw cut steak is more nutritious

With the increasing attention of residents to food nutrition, steak has won the favor
of more and more consumers for its advantages of high protein, low cholesterol and rich in a variety of trace elements.
In order to help consumers understand and purchase various types of steaks, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission recently conducted a comparative test
on steak products in the circulation field.

It is understood that a total of 23 frozen steaks were purchased in this comparative test, involving the two major categories of original cut steak and conditioned steak, the two major beef breeds of Wagyu beef and Angus, and the three major parts of
filet, eye meat and sirloin.
Most of the samples are popular and well-known steak products, including Chunhe Qiu Mu, Oriental Selection, Emperor Fresh, Tianpu Le Food, Seafood and other brands, with prices ranging
from 106 yuan / kg to 916 yuan / kg.

The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission pointed out that according to the relevant standards, steak can be divided into raw cut steak and conditioned steak
.
Raw cut steak refers to a steak that has only been physically divided and packaged, without water injection, marinating, and without adding any accessories or additives; Conditioning steak is usually made by adding extra water, seasonings, additives, etc.
to beef to marinate and tumble; According to the form of raw materials, the market is subdivided into whole cut steak processed with undivided steak parts and synthetic steak
made by splicing small pieces of meat or offcuts.

The test results show that the overall nutritional content of raw cut steak is higher than that of conditioned steak, and the nutritional content of raw cut steak in different parts and different beef breeds is different
.

Protein is an important substance necessary for human life activities and contributes to the formation and growth
of tissues.
The test found that the protein content of the original cut steak was between 16.
7-22.
9g/100g, and the average content was about 20g/100g.

The protein content of the conditioned steak is between 9.
42-13.
9g/100g, and the average content is about 12g/100g, which is roughly 60%
of the original cut steak.

Fat is an important nutrient in steak and plays a key role
in enriching flavor and enhancing taste.
The test found that the average fat content of the original cut steak was 10.
0g/100g, and the average fat content of the conditioned steak was low, 2.
1g/100g; In terms of different parts, filet is the one with the lowest fat content
.
Among the three parts of Wagyu beef steak, filet (average 8.
5g/100g), < sirloin (average 13.
4g/100g) < eye meat (average 18g/100g); Among the three parts of Angus steak, filet (average 3.
1g/100g), < eye meat (average 7.
3g/100g) < sirloin (average 9.
4g/100g).

The total amount of cholesterol intake in a person's diet should not exceed 300mg
a day.
The test found that the cholesterol content of the original cut steak and the conditioning steak was not much different, and they were meat products with low cholesterol content, and the test averages were 50mg/100g and 54mg/100g
, respectively.

The test also found that in terms of sodium content, conditioning steak was significantly higher than raw cut steak; In terms of iron content, there are significant
differences between different parts.
The sodium content of conditioning steak is high, with an average content of 591mg/100g, which is much higher than the average sodium content of 42mg/100g of original cut steak, which is related to
the seasonings and additives with higher sodium content added in the production and processing of conditioning steak.
There was no obvious difference in iron content between cattle breeds and categories, but there were obvious differences between different parts, and the filet part was the part with high iron content in the steak, with an average iron content of 2.
3mg/100g
.
The average iron content in the sirloin area is 1.
7mg/100g, and the average iron content in the eye area is 1.
8mg/100g
.

Some of the prepared steaks have false labels

As a primary agricultural product, raw cut steaks are usually not required to be labeled with nutrients
.
In this test, the label of the prepared steak was checked
.
It was found that the measured protein data of the two prepared steaks was quite different from the labeled data, which was 64% and 77% of the labeled value, respectively, and did not meet the requirement
of GB28050 "General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Food" that the measured value was not less than 80% of the labeled value.

The stated values of fat in the nutrition facts table of the four prepared steaks were much higher than the measured values, reaching 8.
4 times, 3.
5 times, 2.
3 times and 1.
8 times
the measured values, respectively.
The "inflated" value of the label is not conducive to consumers understanding and identifying the goods
they are purchasing.

The test also found that the measured value of protein was 64% of the labeled value of 64% of the measured value of fat in one sample with the nominal trade name "Xiao Huan Xi Filip mignon" and the nominal trademark "Western Food Age"
.
Looking at the measured values, it was found that the protein content of the sample was 9.
42g/100g, which was lower than the average content of 12.
1g/100g of conditioning steak.
The fat content is 1.
2g/100g, which is also lower than the average content of 2.
1g/100g
of prepared steak.

The water in frozen steak is a common concern of consumers, and frozen raw cut steak with too high water content will have higher water loss during the thawing process, and there will be a corresponding loss
of nutrients.
The test found that the moisture content of all samples met the standard requirements, specifically, the overall moisture content of the conditioning steak was higher than that of the original cut steak, and the moisture content of the beef eye meat part was the lowest
.

In addition, the water loss of steaks varies depending on the thawing method
.
The test adopts four thawing methods: room temperature thawing, 8 hours refrigerated thawing, 16 hours refrigerated thawing, and running water thawing, and the softening of the middle part of the frozen steak is the thawing completion standard
.
From the perspective of thawing time, refrigerated thawing > thawing at room temperature> thawing under running water; From the perspective of thawing water loss rate, running water thawing > 16 hours of refrigeration thawing> room temperature thawing> 8 hours of refrigeration thawing
.

In general, refrigerated thawing is the safest and most hygienic method, but if the refrigerated thawing time is too long, it will also lead to an increased
water loss rate of the steak.
The test also tested phosphate, a common water retention agent in meat products, and found that the phosphate content of the two prepared steaks was higher than the average content of the conditioned steak, which was directly related
to the phosphate content of the raw materials themselves in different origins and the phosphate content added by the enterprise.
(Prepared by: Shanghai Consumer Council)

Consumption reminders

When buying steak, the original cut and conditioning should be clearly distinguished

The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission reminds consumers to distinguish between "raw cut steak" and "conditioned steak"
.
The ingredient list of the original cut steak is only beef, and the ingredients in the ingredient list of the prepared steak are diverse; The implementation standard of raw cut steak is usually GB2707 and GB/T17238, and the product standard commonly implemented for conditioning steak is SB/T10379
.

In addition to the common food label content, consumers should also pay attention to other raw material information when purchasing, such as the name of raw materials, the origin of raw materials, the production date of raw materials, the shelf life of raw materials, the storage conditions of raw materials, the batch number of raw materials, the registration number of the factory in China, the name of the factory, the address of the factory, etc
.
In addition, the fat color of good steak is usually white, and the meat color of frozen steak that has not been thawed is generally dark red
initially.
When exposed to air, the meat appears bright red
.
After a few hours to a few days of exposure
, the flesh also turns dark brown.